Entire functions with Julia sets of positive measure (Q661308)

Let \(f:\mathbb{C}\to\mathbb{C}\) be an entire function, and recall that the Julia set \(J(f)\) of \(f\) is the set of points where the family \((f^n)\) of iterates is not equicontinuous (with respect to the spherical metric). For polynomials, the question whether \(J(f)\) can have positive Lebesgue measure is very difficult, and was only recently resolved by \textit{X. Buff} and \textit{A. Chéritat} [``Quadratic Julia sets with positive area'', Ann. Math. (2) 176, No. 2, 673--746 (2012; \url{doi:10.4007/annals.2012.176.2.1})]. On the other hand, the answer has long been known for transcendental entire functions: Indeed, \textit{C. McMullen} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 300, 329--342 (1987; Zbl 0618.30027)] proved that the Julia set of functions of the form \[ z\mapsto \lambda \sin(z) + \mu \cos(z), \quad (\lambda,\mu)\in\mathbb{C}^2\setminus\{0\}, \] always has positive measure. This result was subsequently generalized to larger classes of functions by other authors (we refer to the introduction of the present paper for references). In the paper under review, these results are significantly extended as follows: Theorem. Let \(f\) be a transcendental entire function in the Eremenko-Lyubich class \(B\); that is, assume that the set of all critical and asymptotic values of \(f\) is bounded. Assume furthermore that, for some \(R>0\), the set \[ A_R := \{z\in\mathbb{C}: |f(z)|>R\} \] has \(N\) connected components, and that \(f\) satisfies \[ \log |f(z)| \leq |z|^{\frac{N}{2} + \frac{1}{\log^m|z|}} \] for some \(m\in\mathbb{N}\) and all sufficiently large \(z\). Then \(J(f)\) has positive Lebesgue measure. (Here \(\log^m\) denotes the \(m\)-th iterate of the logarithm.) As noted by the authors, there are functions in the class \(B\) of order arbitrarily close to \(N/2\) such that \(J(f)\) has measure zero. This shows that the term \(1/\log^m|z|\) in the statement of the theorem cannot be replaced by a positive constant \(\varepsilon\). (However, it can be replaced by a certain function \(\varepsilon(|z|)\) that tends to zero more slowly than \(1/\log^m(z)\) for all \(m\).) In order to prove the theorem, the authors generalize a function-theoretic result of Tsuji. In its original form, this theorem gives a lower bound on the growth of an entire function on a component of the set \(A_R\) defined above, in terms of the geometry of this component. The authors prove a similar result (Theorem 1.3) for components of the set where \(|f(z)|>e^{|z|^{\beta}}\). This then allows them to deduce the main theorem using a similar argument to that used by McMullen. The escaping set \(I(f)\) consists of those points whose orbits tend to infinity under iteration; for \(f\in B\), the escaping set is a subset of the Julia set. The authors in fact show that the set \(I(f)\), and even the fast escaping set \(A(f)\) introduced by the second author and \textit{A. Hinkkanen} [Math. Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc. 126, No. 3, 565--574 (1999; Zbl 0939.30019)] have positive measure under the stated hypotheses. Finally, we note that the proof of the main theorem can be applied in more general situations, provided that something is known about the geometry of the function; see Remark 3.1 in the paper for a precise statement.